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Christie’s Reinvents Luxury UGC for 250th Anniversary

The power of user generated photos lies in their flexibility and diversity. It is not necessary that photos should always feature people wearing your clothes or handling your products. Christie’s, one of the art world’s leading businesses, deals with precious art, jewelry, and antiques–definitely not the standard fodder for hashtag campaigns. Still, they just wrapped up a successful luxury UGC campaign. To mark its 250th anniversary, Christie’s created a podium outside of its Rockefeller Plaza location in Manhattan. Passers-by were allowed to go behind the podium to play a role of an auctioneer with a gavel in their hands. Behind the podium, one could see a painting of the house’s founder James Christie along with text explaining the auctioneer’s 250-year mark. Those who took photos were also asked to post their images for the luxury UGC campaign with the hashtag #BeTheAuctioneer. The podium was available from Oct. 26-28, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. each day.

Of course, the inherent eye-catching nature of this on-the-streets campaign was aimed at piquing the curiosity and awareness of onlookers, especially of those who aren’t already in Christie’s immediate circle. And owing to the authenticity and lifelike nature of user generated photos, they generally become successful in becoming viral and thus in ensuring engagement. That’s precisely why Christie’s chose UGC!

But apart from achieving mere attention, this luxury UGC campaign was quite unique in the sense of its experiential value. Generally, when it comes to UGC campaigns, companies ask customers to share their moments with their products. But Christie’s allowed people to step in the shoes of an auctioneer–who is essentially the salesperson. It’s almost always the case that those contributing photos are on the other side of the counter, or, in this case, podium. Indeed, it was a great example of how to add an experiential touch to your UGC campaign. Of course, user-generated photos are a must to have in today’s extremely visual environment of the internet. But it’s important to know how to use them differently and innovatively. I think any marketer can take this particular leaf out of Christie’s book. Note:Naturally, Christie’s embraced UGC because it understood its power and importance. To have a better understanding of how it actually positively impacts the overall prospects of the business, go through this blog. Still don’t believe us? Our “Ultimate List of User Generated Content Statistics” will make you doubtless. Searching for other innovative UGC ideas? For thoughts on how to boost sales, recognition, and engagement with visual social content, take a look at our guides: